And the world went black
by Bewitching-Incalescence-4ever
Summary: Why is it that entropy increases with time? Hermione found out with a whirlwind of emptiness, emotions and dreamless sleep potions. It may take all of her mental abilities to survive the endless shackles time gives or she might just overpower time, falling into tunnels of friendship, hope, pain, hurt, dreams, magic and the healer to every ailment: love. To be rewritten! R&R
1. Whirlwind

**A Note- hey! I decided to edit and bunch together some of my chapters because lets face it- their shorter than well, everything! So I decided to do that and here you go! I don't own anything except for this new tablet I'm posting from!**

* * *

The war had ended, yet Hermione had been at her utmost state of depression, it seemed unreal that Harry was a Horcrux, that Ron and she had kissed, or that Remus and Tonks, Colin, Fred, and fifty others had died. Lavender Brown's last words were to thank and apologize to her, and then there she was, near the ruined Room of Requirement, she felt it: It was an odd, swooping sensation she hadn't felt since her third year. And then there was a loud cracking noise before the world suddenly went black... Darkness was rather soothing really, but it made her feel claustrophobic.

* * *

I must have fainted, Hermione mused as she regained her consciousness, but this was not the ruined corridor, nor was it anywhere she knew of, then where was she? Her sight soon came into focus and she realized that she was in the hospital wing. Ah, she sighed mentally, so I am in the hospital wing, silly me. Then it came to her; the hospital wing had been _demolished_ in the battle. She needed to clear her mind, she knew for a fact that she was on a bed.

She swiveled her eyes about and made several important mental notes. It looked exactly like the hospital wing but instead of a grumbling, middle aged geriatric there stood a

rather _attractive_ young woman in her twenties with raven hair in a neat white apron humming _a cauldron full of hot strong love_ beside a cabinet whilst mixing a complicated brew. She probably didn't realize that she was there.

Seeing Hermione awake the woman started and spoke in a soft voice,

" Ah, you are awake at last my dearie, could you please drink this for me? _I am Poppy Pomfrey_." She added,

in response to her enquiring look and Hermione, who was sipping the potion with her numb fingers, gasped and fell out of her bed.

How could it possibly be? It was impossible, unreal but unless-

"My word!" Madam Pomfrey cried.

Hermione now knew what to ask. Not **where** but _when. What year had she landed herself in?_

"What year is it?" She croaked from the floor, her breath quickening rapidly.

Madam Pomfrey laughed,

"Why it is September the first, 1977!"

* * *

Hermione's brain was speculating so fast that she was quite surprised at the fact that that no one heard her brain whirr.

Suddenly, it dawned on her that Professor Dumbledore was still alive.

I-I n-need to see Proffes-"

BANG

The door opened and there stood none other than the silver-bearded wisdom; Albus Percivial Wulfuric Brian Dumbledore.

"Ah you are awake at last, Miss-?"

He looked at Hermione enquiringly, his blue eyes piercing her brown, giving her a feeling that she was being monitored closely.

"Granger, Hermione Granger sir"

"Ah miss Granger I am afraid that you were a victim of a strange phenomenon known as **_quo sibi alienavit _**which creates a rift in time and I believe that you were at the center of this rift. This is a very misfortunate occurrence as one can never be sure about the fact the when the rift will open again. I know for a fact that no one will remember you when you go back from here. Seeing that you have told me your name; I shall expect Some side effect. I would advise you to try not to alter the turn of events, even if it could save a life."

Hermione tried to get up but buckled and fell down, causing another exclamation from Madam Pomfrey. Dumbledore lifted his wand and with a spiraling movement, Hermione rose gracefully into the air and landed onto the bed with a soft flump.

"Miss Granger, I believe that you have acquired a grievous side effect of your misfortunate accident, as far as I know Miss granger you cannot walk easily without support and so," he added with a sad smile," you will need these for support." He waved his wand and pair of crutches appeared.

Hermione was provided fresh robes and she changed with the help of Poppy as Madam Pomfrey insisted to be addressed as. She was relieved to find her expanded purse for this meant that she did not need any supplies. professor Dumbledore had told her to reside as a student who had been homeschooled until her parents were killed in a deatheater attack. It took her a while though, to get used to the crutches and the sharp pain which she had mentally nicknamed Bellatrix.

Apparently, Madam Pomfrey had placed a number of complex charms on her leg to ease the pain. Almost all feeling was gone from it.

"it is necessary to protect your legs and give support to them my dear!"

It was in the evening when professor Dumbledore met her again, He told her that she had to go through the sorting and that she needed to choose a name for it could result in a time paradox. Hermione thought that the name of a character from a Muggle book would be suitable and she chose Ariadne Ranger.

Hermione was in the entrance hall waiting for her name to be called, her bushy mane of hair crackling with electricity.

"...and now we welcome in our midst a new seventh year, Ariadne Ranger!"

The door opened and Hermione hobbled in unsteadily ignoring the rest of the speech and the breakout of violent whispering. She went up slowly,painfully and nervously jammed the hat over her head.

_Ah, my dear I have sorted you before, have I not?_

**I think so**

_Well no time for chatter then GRYFFINDOR!_

The hat was taken off her head and a girl with dark red hair and bright green eyes, with a badge which read as HG held her hand and helped her down whispering soothing words in her ear as she went down the Gryffindor table near a boy who looked exactly like Harry and three others who were looking around to catch a glimpse of her. One of them was looking extremely weak and she guessed that it must be Remus Lupin, Another boy with watery blue eyes was peeking around meekly; Wormtail, she felt like vomiting. The last boy was unmistakably-

"Sirius black at your service!"

Sirius said jumping out at her face making her collapse and tumble down again. He was as reckless as she knew him alive and that annoyed her. She did not think she could manage to fall down like this again for it made her legs even more unstable than they already were.

""BLACK! TEN POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR!""

Both Lily and Professor McGonagall bellowed. Sirius looking perplexed offered his hand, his grey eyes shining with concern.

"I will be alright thank you very much Sirius!" she snapped slapping his hand away and taking Lily's arm instead.

Hermione had never realized how much she had missed Hogwarts as she helped herself to some lemon tart _and_ some cake _and _some pie. Sirius was grinning at her like maniac throughout dinner. She had to admit, he did look much, much better than she had ever seen him alive, his face brighter and his hair sleek and shiny, he was a man who had never faced azkaban. As the plates disappeared James and Lily came to her aid making her stand. Lily scowled at Sirius who was grinning at Hermione. Lily and James argued at the same pace as they explained. They were like a pair of Budgariars. Thank goodness she knew all the stuff for they were incomprehensible to human ears.

She reached the dormitory with Lily yelling abuses at James. She was attacked by a flock of girls wearing lurid, vivid pink nightgowns, all cooing and sympathizing. They introduced themselves as Hestia, Marlene and Alice.

Hermione waited for them calm down and then pulled down her hangings took the frail looking bag out of her pocket, forced the crutches inside and got out a pair of blue pajamas and put them on as _Bellatrix_ taunted her. She took out a photo of the DA, closed the purse and set it aside. Then she cried, cried at the state of her life.

She resolved not to make any close ties with anyone except maybe Lily with whom such ties had been formed already. She could not even bear to think of the futures of the people who were in the dorm right now.

Chubby cheeked Alice was tortured into insanity, gusty Marlene died fighting in the order, dark-haired Hestia lost control of her arms after The battle and brave Lily who stood up to Voldermort. They were all chatting unconcernedly on Lily's bed. Hermione did not know what to do so she took out a peice of parchment and a self inking quill wnd she drew, drew and drew...


	2. Shocked

**A Note- You know the truth better accept it- I can't afford Harry Potter**

Hermione saw Voldemort come out of the clearing with his Death eaters and Hagrid carrying a body; Harry's body.

"No," she whispered,

"NO! NO! HARRY!"

"Ariadne! Ariadne!" Lily was shaking her softly, she saw a piece of parchment fall down but ignored it for the moment.

"Ariadne calm down!"

Now Alice, Hestia and Marlene had grouped around Hermione or Ariadne's bed trying to control her screaming and thrashing before she woke the whole of Gryffindor tower.

Ariadne woke up at last and looking weakly at Lily she exclaimed "Ginny! Harry he-he Harry's d-dead." she spoke, each word and pause covered with shuddering breaths.

"Ariadne," Lily spoke, her voice filled to the brim with concern,

"Who are Harry and Ginny?"

Hermione's eyes snapped open as she came to her senses, "No one, Lily you should stop worrying about me without no reason. Same for you three." she gestured at Alice, Hestia and Marlene. She knew she would need to tell them, even if the story was altered greatly.

She then yanked down her bed hangings and again took solace in whispering to the photo of the DA under wand light, pretending the happy faces were by her side laughing at some joke or training determinedly, sweat trickling from their faces. Colin had given them to her so that she could give them to Harry but she forgotten all about them. Now Colin was dead too, she thought. To her everyone was dead.

Lily them again noticed to parchment near her bed, she took it it and realised it as a beautiful quill portrait of a couple walking hand in hand. The man was long nosed, tall and freckled. The woman looked intelligent rather than attractive with a strong jaw and sparkling, vivacious eyes and waist length hair which had a bushy look. It took her a minute to realize that it was Ariadne. She looked at her bed hangings and thought of her present appearance, her face was gaunt and had a defeated look, her eyes were shell-shocked and would betray all her pain her hair were bushy but quite lank and some hairs were turning grey.

Lily simply kept it in her bedside drawer, not knowing what else to do.

The following morning, she woke up early, the pain in her legs worsening by the minute when a huge parcel filled with potions and powders came to her notice. It was from Poppy for there was a note attached in her neat, evenly-spaced handwriting telling her about the potions and she had even created a time table for her which told her to visit her each Friday in her office for examination of her rapidly detoriating health and to replenish her stock of potions. She drank the morning dose of potions and carefully, put the rest in her pouch for lunch and took her crutches out for the first day at Hogwarts. Real fun.

She got ready as quickly as she could and tried to get out of the dorms as early as possible for the later she would be, the lesser the chance was there to reach for breakfast without being stared at.

And at last when she arrived; expecting the tables to be abandoned she found herself greeted by none other than...

"Hello Ariadne! Sorry about last night, it was an accident you know."Sirius Black brandished his hand out for at that exclamation Hermione had fallen down in a heap on the floor, her crutches askew.

The other marauders had just arrived to the table carrying a small packet of powder whose purpose was probably for some prank. All she knew was that she would never take the hand of Sirius Orion Black; ever.

She harrumphed and looked around to see the rest of the marauders staring in shock at Sirius. Then looked as though a body bind had been placed upon them except that their mouths were hanging open.

"I cannot lie here all day you know! Someone, heck anyone except Sirius Black help me up!" Hermione pleaded desperately waving her hands in the air.

She was really annoyed and wanted to tell him that she couldn't be friends with anyone except Lily, but was too angry to say so. At that very moment Lily descended down and gave her a hand**.**

Murmuring thanks Hermione went towards Remus and asked,

" What were you staring at Sirius for?"" Sirius apologized; He never does that."

That was all that came out of the ill and fragile looking boy's mouth. Remus looked almost the same as she had known him except that his face was not marred with lines and his hair was a sandy brown, though flecks of grey were beginning to surface. She hadn't noticed that at all.

She couldn't even care less about why Sirius apologizing was such a great deal and went to sit beside Lily picking up a piece of toast.

"Where's your bag 'Adne" Sirius said, flipping his dark locks off his face carelessly, causing some girls to swoon.

She shoved her hand into her robe pocket and fished out the small pouch and pushed in front of his face. Sirius laughed; the same bark-like laugh and asked,

"What do you keep in it? The miniature book of miniatures?"

Hermione quickly summoned a book which would never fit in a _normal_ bag and showed it to Sirius. She forced it inside, did a mock swooning fit and hobbled off to take the timetable from Professor McGonagall.

She heard Sirius shout ("I NEVER KNEW THAT YOU COULD JOKE PROFESSOR RANGER!")

And after what seemed like years a smile flitted across her face and she hopped off for charms.

Hermione then took to taking refuge in the library, eventually befriending Remus Lupin and being name _Scary-adne the silent ghost of the library_ for she soon started spending her entire time in the library. Sirius had made a habit of making her trip and fall by appearing out of unlikely places.

Nothing happened until one fateful Friday...


	3. Poisoned

"It might go wrong! He might not be poisoned!" Saurabh Patil said trembling at the sight of the wand pointed to his chest.

"Are you feeling pity for that half breed Patil?" Thomas Smith sneered ," I think you do, oh yes, you care for that beast do you not? You care for him. No need to lie Saurabh, no need to lie. _Stupefy_." With a flash of scarlet light the boy fell on the ground unconscious.

It serves that traitor right, he thought throwing Saurabh's wand beside him with a clatter, I have to carry out the mission on my own steam. Let's see:

Professor Slughorn loves crystallized pineapple, The beast drinks only one glass of orange juiceThe draught of peace requires _fourteen_ grams of pure untouched silver,_Th__ree_ grams of silver is required to kill the beast if ingested,

I have tortured that swot Patil to flatter the old walrus into giving _twenty-five grams _of the shiny stuff,

Today is the fine day,

On September the 18th by 10 'o clock Remus John Lupin will be lifted off in a wooden casket made from the wood of the finest Oak Tree available.

* * *

_Thump!_

Not for the first time in two weeks had Ariadne Ranger fallen off her bed asleep with a quill in her mouth a parchment following her. She coughed, straightened up and promptly went off drawing again. She was rather unperturbed by this and soon fell asleep again.

Ariadne Ranger was never a girl who could have been put under the normal and sane category; in fact she was a person who pushed the boundaries of highly unusual beyond the stretching point.

Why so? It was for Ariadne Ranger was not Ariadne Ranger but a time traveler called Hermione Granger who was an unusual person herself. She was obsessed with studies, books, mysteries and a young man called Ronald Bilius Weasley who happened to be one of her best friends. Her other best friend was again another young man called Harry James Potter who was rather interesting too, but we won't go into that.

She was missing them terribly at the moment and was interestingly stuck in 1977, studying as a seventh year in Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry when ironically her best friend's late parents were studying the in the same year as her. She was a ruin of herself for her legs had stopped working, she was friendless and her magic was growing stronger, eventually spiraling or of her control and backfiring. She would barely manage to do her basic spells, let alone seventh year material.

Tomorrow happened to be her 19th birthday which makes the circumstances even more unusual. Never had there been a nineteen year old at Hogwarts. She never celebrated her birthdays but they were never entirely ignored either, for instance Ron and Harry would give her a card or two and at times an odd gift. She had never considered her parents as her family but, like Harry she had been adopted into the Weasley family. She, in fact had drawn the Weasley clan, sitting a table together, laughing and talking with Flaming red hair, though the black and white portrait did not show that. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and their seven children including Ron, Harry and herself.

She never cared where the drawings went neither did she know that Lily Evans was collecting them.

Tomorrow was just another painful, slow and torturous day. For her Hermione, the brightest witch of her age was dead and had been replaced by Ariadne Ranger, who was worthless beyond compare. She was hopelessly wrong...

* * *

Happy birthday to me, Hermione mentally chanted while changing. The pain in her legs was worse than ever. She had an appointment with Poppy today. This day will again be spent in the library.

She took her dose of potions and rushed down to breakfast. Someone, maybe Peeves had burst a dozen waste balloons and a full thirty minutes later, Hermione arrived to breafast the back of her robes smoking from the drying charm and say down next to Remus and Lily. She reached for a goblet of orange juice and a peice of toast. It tastes funny, Hermione thought, it tastes like-

"REMUS!" Lily shreiked,

Hermione turned her neck so fast that it nearly cricked. Remus had fallen off his seat twitching while a glass of orange juice was lying near his head soaking his sandy brown hair.

Hermione clambered out of her seat awkwardly and hobbled out towards Lily. Silver, it was a large dose of silver. This was dire. Lily told her that James and Sirius were with Dumbledore, Poppy and Professor Mcgonall in Dumbledore's office. Hermione limped quickly, it might be too late. She reached the gargoyles in the front, out of breath.

"It-is-an-emergency-please-let-me-enter!"

"No password, no entrance girlie." The gargoyles said in monotone.

Then they parted and there stood James, Sirius and Mcgonagall. Hermione only said," James-Sirius-silver juice-Remus he-poisoned-hurry please! -Quick!" Dizziness took over and she passed out...

* * *

She woke up in the hospital wing to find a pair of golden half-moon glasses looking up at her. Then it came back to her like lightening.

"Proffessor Dumbledore! Remus, he is in an emergency! "

"Calm down Miss Granger, Remus is now in a stable condition and I would advise you to rest as in your condition it is imprudent. "He stated gravely, the twinkle in his electric blue eyes present but rather diminished, "I would thank you for saving Remus's life. You are of course aware of-?"

"Yes, I am professor. Did Lily know sir?"

"She figured it out in her third year along with his other friends. I would suggest you Miss Granger to rest and as some friendly advice I would like you to start befriending people." With a small wink Dumbledore strode out of the room humming an unfamiliar tune to himself.

And then in came the rest of the marauders- James, Sirius and the disgusting rat. Lily succeeded them in line and to her shock she was enveloped in a muscular pair of arms which to her greater shock were of Sirius Orion Black.

He broke apart embarrassed, "Thank you! But how did you figure out Remus' s secret?" He asked suddenly, his brows furrowed with curiosity.

"I have known a werewolf as my closest friend and mentor so it was not difficult to spot the signs." The marauders signed in relief, but Lily seemed slightly suspicious

Then James let out his hand and thr other two marauders mimiced the motion.

"Friends?"

She thought for a while bur then Dumbledore's words swam into her head. She had to do it.

"Friends." She shook their hands in turn, hesitating at Peter's hand but still gritting her resolve, she shook his too.


	4. Observant

Lily Evans was an observant young witch who secretly loved funny mysteries. She had received a humongous shock to find out that she was head girl and a bigger shock to find out that the head boy was none other than James Potter, the only person who has managed to have his head filled with hot air without floating in the sky. He was insisting that he had changed. As if!

She had hoped that his best friend Remus Lupin got the badge. Remus was a kind-hearted, charming and academically brilliant man with a quirky sense of humor. The only fault was that he was shy, pessimistic and a werewolf. She had found that out in her third year and seeing the fact that Remus was not like other werewolves and wasn't shocked at all when James told her in the train ride to Hogwarts. Remus knew that she knew about his problem.

She was quite intrigued that the sorting hat wasn't taken away. Then the mystery began by the arrival of that handicapped seventh year Ariadne Ranger. The girl had an air of hurt dignity which made Lily's heart go out to her.

She was instantly sorted into Gryfinndor. Lily was delighted when she found out that her and (unluckily) Potter were assigned to help her out. She rushed up and took her hand out of excitement. She had a shocked look of- _recognition_? Something was wrong. She whispered words to calm that poor girl down. She had been shaking a lot.

Then she went to towards the table when the co-leader of Potter's gang Sirius Black jumped forward causing the girl to collapse. Lily was furious. How could he? Then Ariadne spoke. Her voice was, unlike her shaken appearance confident and strong. As mum would to say, _never judge a book by it's cover._

She paid no notice to those giggling pink gossip flies and went to the extra bed and pulled the hangings down.

Then sometime near midnight, Lily woke up to the sound of thrashing from the extra bed. She wrenched apart her hangings and went to Ariadne's bed. She opened the hangings and a parchment fell. She was whispering storing and suddenly, she started screaming into the night. She was shouting out a name, a boy apparently called Harry. The other girls were around the bed when after ten minutes of shaking her she woke up with a start and mistook Lily for a girl called _Jiny_. When Lily asked her of the names she suddenly snapped her head up and denied everything and chided_ them_ for worrying.

Then the portrait was another story. She often wondered whether the man had been her brother or a friend or _maybe, eveb_ a _boyfriend_? That was absurd but it could possible.

She never seemed to need any help in finding classes when Lily would get lost even after seven years of studying at Hogwarts. She shocked Lily when she perfected her potion quicker than her and seemed to know a lot more than even Remus did. She was topping in every class she took and as per Lily had a habit of doing all the week's homework in two hours. The time she spent in the library was shocking and it was imminent that she instantly befriended Remus. Though it was mean of people to call her a ghost, but she seemed like one. This year's teacher in Defense was more boring than Professor Binns, who taught history of magic, the most boring subject in existence. Only Ariadne and Remus were able to repel the hypnotic tone and take notes which she often had to borrow from them.

Then that morning Remus was poisoned, Ariadne was the only one who had enough wits to contact a teacher. Dumbledore then told her that if Ariadne had not informed of silver in Remus' s goblet of juice, he may have died. Sirius went and hugged Ariadne, surprising everyone and asked the most twisted question of the fact that how did she know about Remus? Why didn't she think of asking her that?

She fended it off by saying that she knew a werewolf. Lily somehow suspected her of lying, after all, how many people on earth have really seen a werewolf? Nevertheless, the Marauders offered a hand of friendship to her which she took. Lily could not help but notice that she flinched before taking Peter's hand.

She_ flinched..._

* * *

After Lily and Hermione were given calming draughts and told that Remus would recover in a week, they set of with the three Marauders trailing behind them in absolute silence. They reached the Gryffindor common room and Lily stomped off to the girls dormitory.

"So, " Sirius trailed off, when he caught the sight of James, who was trying to get to the girls dorm too. Hermione used her crutch to stop him from bashing his head on the wall.

"What is wrong with him?" She asked curious of James Potter's strange urge to bash his brains on the stairs of the girls dormitories.

"Why m'dear lady, our Jamesie-boy is in love! " Sirius said with a lot of waving of hands, "Love makes the world go round love is-"

_WHACK_!

"That hurt!" Sirius said massaging his nape,

"Ariadne, tell us about your life before you were here." James said, ignoring Sirius' heated rant.

Hermione was perplexed, what would she say? In the end she decided to say whatever comes in her mind and hope for the best.

"I-I w-was home-schooled like my parents and my friends, I had two best friends who were with me at every s-step of my l-life. One could say that _they _were my family. I had fallen in love with one of them and I know that he felt the same. And-and- " She stopped, unable to go on any further.

"Where are they now? "James asked,

"Dead." She said tonlessly.

James was dumbstruck by the answer. Sirius noted the hard tone in her voice when she spoke.

"Why don't you tell me your adventures over here?"

James nodded and they sat down by the now extinguished fire and told her all about their pranks, Peter nodding in delight.

They told her how they had once charmed the trees at Christmas to follow Aaron Pilth around for the entire Christmas day. How James had once cursed his hair off in attempts to make it lie flat, how Sirius was jinxed into hopping like a frog for the rest of the month, how once Peter had been forced to wear his boxes on the top of his used like a cap.

Hermione couldn't help it, she burst into a fit of laughter. James wasn't just Harry's father, Sirius wasn't just a mentor and Terms wasn't just a teacher. They were the Marauders, pranksters extraordinaire. They were Messrs. Moony, Padfoot and Prongs (she refused to acknowledge Wormtail the traitor.)

Sirius saw her laugh and cry out of amusement and mirth. It was a rare, musical sound, much like the fabled song of a Phoenix. He started wishing that her laughter never ceased and he couldn't help but frown when she staggered up to the girls dorm still chuckling.

Lily for the first time saw Ariadne resemble the girl from her portraits...


	5. Too much to handle

Sirius was lying on his bed thinking of this queer girl named Ariadne. He remembered guiltily that he was the one who made her fall repeatedly over the past few weeks. She was a really remarkable mystery. She looked battle worn and weak, but she was the only person as to whom could not be imagined crying. He had been so eager to ask the new student of it was a girl. His shock led him to grinning like a lunatic. He was surprised by her many times after that. He was startled by her voice, the pouch with an expansion charm, that she knew a werewolf and that she could actually laugh. James was too obsessed with winning Lily to have noticed that she had taken to stick to Ariadne.

For him, Remus was another issue: twenty-five grams of silver was as deadly as a vial of Acromantula venom. He would never deny it that Sirius Orion Black was alive because and for his friends. He was the one who had thought of Animagus transformations, by the way. Jamesie-boy was ignorant to think that Lily flower would talk to him because of Remmy... He winced at the thought of how much Remus would shriek at being called "Remmy".

* * *

Lily was sitting on her bed seeing the silhouette of Ariadne draw through the hangings. She noticed that Ariadne would never draw a certain face completely. It was of a man with messy black hair like James... No, Potter. Never James. Only Potter. Lily Evans was not supposed to call arrogant pricks by their names. She would gaze at the drawings, trying to recognize that boy and others. She had seen many drawings curtailed around a family – that tall, long- nosed, freckly man's family. There were others too, like a funny-looking girl with light hair, a round-faced boy, a couple with a baby, and others who could not be pointed out easily. She usually watched Ariadne draw, and the moment she would fall asleep, the drawing would fall on the ground. Lily had collected them in a Muggle binder she thought she might gift them to her.

"Ariadne!" Lily whispered.

"What?"

"When is your birthday?"

"Today,"

And with that, Ariadne yanked her bed hangings down.

Lily gaped. What! Then a drawing hit the floor. Lily picked it up and glanced at it. With a gasp she dropped it. How could it be? It was impossible! She had to talk to James.

* * *

Hermione was lying on her bed wondering about the entire day. She was heavily relying on dreamless sleep potions, for she couldn'teasily fall asleep. This day had been fortunate but nevertheless frightening.

Again she took out a parchment and her quill. Today she realized that she had been piling up anger upon herself. She wasn't letting go, she was latching on to a glimmer of hope, hope that someone – maybe Harry and Ron – would come to save her. She was clawing on a bolted door; deliberately suffocating upon her thoughts. She didn't even realize in her conversation with Lily that she had ignored her birthday. Well, she thought, it was time to take some air...

* * *

Lily was rushing up the steps toward the boys' dormitories with the drawing clenched in her hands; her knuckles were white. At last, she reached the door to the Marauders' dorm.

Without warning the door flew open. Sirius was rubbing his eyes sleepily; he was wearing red and gold pajamas, which were rather loose for him.

"Wh – Merlin's beard! Prongs! Evans is here!"

"I would advise you to shut up, Black."

There was a thump and some scuffling when finally James Potter emerged, his glasses lopsided, wearing the same pajamas as Black. He seemed alert unlike Black, who was yawning.

"E – Lily?" James said, his tone disbelieving, "Why are you here at the middle of the night?"

Lily thrust a piece of parchment at him. It turned out to be a quill portrait of a girl and James. Sirius snatched the portrait from him. Instead of looking mortified, he gave a loud bark-like laugh. Lily looked rather affronted at the opposite reactions.

"Prongsie's got a secret lover!" He exclaimed in a high-pitched voice. "Why didn't you tell me, you naughty, naughty boy?" He trilled in the same nauseating voice, slapping James's arm.

"I would like you, Black, to look at the girl carefully!" Lily snapped, clearly not amused by Sirius's antics.

Sirius obliged, he studied the picture his lip boy was definitely Prongs, but he was far too grim and well, grown up for his liking and he noticed a faint, tiny scar on his forehead. He seemed to be comforting the girl who looked a lot like-

"It's Ariadne!" He exclaimed, rather bemused.

"Really? Blimey! It is her!"

Lily looked impatient and restless: She was running her hands through her hair repeatedly as though she had a tick.

"Ariadne draws such drawings daily and I – Er, well I collect them in a binder." She said all of this very quickly. "I think there is something fishy about her."she added as an afterthought.

"Well then why are you here? Ask her!"

Lily's expression changed: She looked indignant and her face had turned into a blotchy red.

James gulped. This meant trouble for both him and Padfoot.

"You try it out if you really think it will not embarrass her!"

Then suddenly Lily calmed down. "I would need you to keep an eye on her along with me as, you've befriended her too. We might even get to know about Remus." The last sentence concealed a plea.

James looked at Sirius, and Sirius looked at James. They seemed to stiffen for a second, and then both of them looked at Lily and automatically shot out their hands.

Lily, without hesitating at all, shook them. Now they were in this together.

* * *

Sirius woke up the next morning to find Remus's bed empty. Where was he? Then he saw a piece of parchment and it came to him- Remus-Silver-Lily-Ariadne-Portrait-James.

"Oi! James, wake up or I'll hang you upside down!" Sirius bellowed, pulling James' bed hangings up.

James simply tossed a pillow at Sirius and yanked his hangings back down with a groan. Waking him up was impossible unless you happened to be Moony the I-am-smarter-than-thou Lupin. This had left no choice for Sirius. He took out his wand and carefully aimed.

_Levicorpus_, he thought and with a crack and a flash of light James was hanging comically by his ankle. Peter who had woken up at the noise laughed at the look of pure terror on James' face and Sirius acknowledging Peter's presence, got up from his bed and gave a bow (leaving James suspended in the air).

"WILL YOU LET ME DOWN, YOU EEJIT?" James shouted, his voice rather hoarse from the shock.

"Yeah, yeah _Liberacorpus_."

James fell on the bed with a loud Thump! The boys scrambled around the room for their stuff after looking at the time (Holy Mother of Merlin! It's eight am and our class starts at nine!) And then after realizing it was a Saturday, they slumped back onto their beds again ("I told you so!" said Sirius with an annoying smile).

Then at last around ten o' clock, the three boys trooped down with James at the front. All of them were wearing the same blue-black coloured robes looking eerily like a marching band.

Lily had just entered the common room and was helping Ariadne through the portrait hole, some people were grouped around the notice-board, mostly girls who were having a fit of giggles and boys who were groaning and swearing at the board.

Lily set off towards the board Ariadne following her with a small frown. After reaching the board Lily frowned too.

_""HOGSMEADE BALL"' it said in rich purple letters, ""STUDENTS FIFTH YEAR AND ABOVE ARE ALLOWED TO ATTEND. THIS BALL HAS BEEN ORGANISED TO UPLIFT THE SPIRIT OF THE STUDENTS. STUDENTS FIFTEEN AND ABOVE ONLY. THE DATE OF THE BALL IS THIRTETH OF OCTOBER._

_(signed) Albus Dumbledore""_

Marlene, Alice and Hestia would be intolerable, Lily thought with a sigh. Ariadne was looking lost again, as though she was recalling something with a tiny smile, leaning dreamily on one crutch. Not her too, Lily thought; exasperated. This was too much to handle…


	6. Changed

**A Note- Phew! this chapter was really hard for me to write as I wrote 3 versions of this chapter and finally got to this particular one. I have planned out the story in my mind but it will take me time to write It down. Jily in this one. I don't own Harry Potter but let me dream will you please?**

Lily was furious, no cross that, She. Was. Livid. James was twenty minutes late for rounds! I knew it, thought Lily; I knew he wasn't going to turn up. He and Black must be having a stupid, reckless adventure right now while she was waiting in front of the common room, wishing other teachers and prefects as they passed. Evanna lynch the Ravenclaw prefect blamed it on some creatures called Nargles and informed her that her and her fellow Ravenclaw prefect were going to start a newsletter to make people aware of their existence.

'Well damn the Nargles then!' Lily mouthed angrily as the girl pranced away.

Then again she heard footsteps approaching her. It better be Potter or I am going to go hunt him down and jinx him into a jelly, Lily thought wearily. Then to her disbelieving relief and annoyance she saw a mop of hair, a very familiar mop of hair emerge from the corner. James was wearing the same cocky grin but this time it looked very forced and mask-like.

Lily opened her mouth to scream at him but then James raised his hand.

"Listen me out first Lily look I am sorry for being late but you see Madam Pomfrey wasn't allowing us to visit Remmy in fear that his attacker might return and so me and Sirius snuck out to visit him." He said this very fast in fear that Lily might explode if he paused for breath.

Lily softened slightly," Come on we are twenty minutes late."

The rest of the rounds passed in an eerie silence which neither James nor Lily felt like breaking. Though they greeted all the other prefects normally, they never spoke a word to each other.

The two Ravenclaw prefects handed James a sinister looking onion without a word. Though Lily was inclined to laugh at the look on James' face but compromised by turning her snort of laughter into a sneeze. I like James when he is silent, mused Lily, for at least he doesn't ask me out when he is silent.

The hour passed rather slowly and then after what seemed like an hour's wait, they reached portrait of the fat lady who woke up with a start. James muttered the password (billywiggs) and barged in. as he was climbing the stairs Lily interrupted him.

"Oi! James ?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I tag along when you visit Remus tomorrow night?"

"Remmy would love to see you Lily."

" And James?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't call him Remmy would you please?"

"Yeah whatever you mean by that Lily." James smirked.

"Maybe you have changed James." Lily thought out loud.

James who had heard that merely smirked again.


	7. Wrong

Sirius Black was sitting in the library, which contrary to popular belief was not a rare thing at all. Yes compared to Remus it was rare but well, visiting it for about five hours a day daily was too much. One hour per day was enough for him thank you!

He had to finish reading this book for an assignment in muggle studies about _Moving Muggle Literature_. Ariadne was sitting beside him poring over another massive book rightfully entitled _Massive Feats in Charms Volume-VI_. She had helped him a lot by finding a suitable muggle author called William Shakespeare. He was currently reading an interesting story called _The Winter's tale _but the problem was that he kept getting stuck over a name. Was it to be pronounced as Hermion or Hera-Minny? Sirius was confused. His head kept coming up with ridiculous pronunciations of that name.

"Er… Ariadne?" Sirius tapped her shoulder.

"Yeah Sirius, want something?"

"Um… yes, I want to know how you pronounce this name."

"Pass me the book Sirius. Yes, which name did you want to know about?"

"The one in the last line of page two hundred and forty-three Ariadne."

Hermione found the page and scanned the line in horror. It was a name, and in this case it just happened to be _hers_. How could she have forgotten that her name had come from Shakespeare?

"Are you alright? You as white as a ghost scary-adne?"

Hermione came to her senses and snapped book shut.

"_Her-my-oh-nee. Hermione _is how you say it."

And without saying a word she went out of the library creating a loud racket as the clutches creaked against the floor leaving a confused Sirius behind. I like that girl, Sirius thought.

* * *

Hermione woke up to the sound of tapping on Monday morning. She groaned tried to get off the bed and fell down. Using the hangings as a support she got to her bed. Then she saw a small black owl sitting importantly on the table ruffling its feathers every now and then. There was a tiny bit of parchment attached to its leg. Hermione reached out for it and the owl promptly stuck out its leg. It was a note from Poppy. It read as-

_Dear H,_

_Remus shall be waking up any time soon. Inform others. Reach before breakfast._

_Yours,_

_P_

As soon as Hermione read this a beautiful graced her features. At last, she thought excitedly, at last Remus will wake and oh! Lily will be so delighted! She did a short crazy little dance of her own on the bed and then, after calming down got out the bed and straightened her crutches. She quickly went to Lily 's bed and pulled the hangings apart.

"Lily! Lily wake up will you?" She prodded Lily with a crutch repeatedly until Lily woke up with an _ouch!_

"What's with all the fuss?" Lily rubbed her eyes.

"Remus will wake anytime soon! We have to reach before breakfast! There was a note by Po- I mean Madam Pomfrey! Hurry!"

Lily stared at her. Her big green eyes going as round as galleons. Then slowly her mouth curved in to a huge grin. She gave a whoop of delight and quickly climbed out of her bed. Today was a brilliant day.

* * *

James, Sirius and Peter were by Remus' side since Sunday night and were not going to leave until Remus woke. Lily had briefly visited the Hospital wing the previous night. She was forced to go but James, Sirius and Peter had thrown a riot. The rest of the students were oblivious to all of this.

The affair had been kept very hush-hush and Remus' absence explained by the age old excuse of someone being sick in the family. His bed had been surrounded by curtains and Madam Pomfrey had again put up another excuse of a third year whose attempt at trying to transfigure his eyes had gone amiss.

"Boys! Wake up!" Madam Pomfrey bellowed.

Sirius woke up causing James, who had been leaning on his shoulder; hit his head on the wall against the bench they had been sleeping on. Both of the boys quickly straightened themselves up (and in James' case ruffled his hair). Peter had to be slapped to wake him up.

"Yes, Miss _Popsy Pops_?" Sirius said in a sing-song voice.

"It's _Madam Pomfrey_ for both of you and Remus shall be waking up in a Few minutes." Madam Pomfrey went off towards the medical supplies cabinet, muttering about a certain powder.

They heard a loud _Tack-a-Tack_ tapping sound. Scary-adne was nearby, James thought. Then soon enough Ariadne, accompanied by none other than Lily Evans entered the hospital wing. Both of them looked very excited of the thought that Remus was going to wake up.

"Lily! _Scary-Adne_!" All three boys waved furiously at them.

Both of them waved as furiously back. Madam Pomfrey ushered them around Remmy's bed. At last, Sirius mentally sighed. She took out a vile looking yellow powder out of the box and shoved it inside Remus' mouth. Remus' eyes immediately fluttered open. He groaned.

"Messrs. Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail reporting. Remus has come back from the beyond, we repeat he has come back from the beyond."

"Messr. Moony reporting. What happened to me? I repeat, what happened to me?" Remus croaked in a feeble voice.

"Silver, Remus it was a huge dose of silver." Ariadne explained, it was almost as though she www unable to resist the temptation to answer.

"What is she doing here? How come she-" Remus tried to get up but was forced down by Peter.

They explained all the events of the past three days. Remus was far too shocked to say anything but smiled at the concern his friends had for him. His eyes kept saying at the girl in the crutches. Ariadne exclaimed that she was late for class and rushed out. The moment she was gone Remus spoke-

"Something is very wrong with her."


	8. New Findings

_"__Something is very wrong with her."_ Remus said the moment Ariadne rushed out.

Lily looked at James who in turn looked at Sirius who shrugged and looked at Peter who looked back Lily again. Lily Sighed.

"Well, there _are_ a lot of things odd about her. We- me, James Sirius and Peter have been keeping an eye on her. I don't think Ariadne is her real name."

"She never gets lost when yesterday I forgot to skip the sixth stair" Peter piped.

"She got as white as a ghost when I asked her about a name." Sirius added.

"What name?" Remus asked trying to straighten up, again to be pushed down by Peter.

"_Hermione_, I was in a story I was reading-"Remus interrupted him

"A Winter's tale was it?"

"Yes, it was." Sirius nodded. He knew Remus far too well to show any surprise at how he knew about the book.

"Well honestly, isn't it strange?" James asked.

"What's strange?" Lily asked her eyebrows furrowed.

"That only a couple of weeks after she arrived Remus got poisoned. Remember Lily? She was sitting just beside Remus."

Lily opened her mouth to respond to this but then suddenly Madam Pomfrey came out of her office. The moment she caught sight of the little catch- up party she ushered them out.

"Out! Out now! Don't you have a class today?"

Lily clapped her hand to her forehead.

"It's defence! Oh! But we're thirty minutes late now!"

She grabbed James and Sirius' collar by one hand And Peter's collar in another and dragged them towards class.

"Oi! Pomfrey!" Sirius shouted from one end of the corridor.

"When will Remmy be allowed to go?" It was James this time.

"Three days!" Poppy bellowed.

All three of the boys groaned.

* * *

Remus was an intelligent young wizard, intelligent enough to not be deceived by Ariadne. If that really was her name. He was a very practical and straight-to-the point bloke and had an upper hand at detecting liars due to the werewolf genes in his blood. He could smell it, he could smell that oh so familiar scent of lies from Ariadne.

He had nothing to do except sit on his bed dying of boredom for three days straight, only getting some comfort by the daily visits from his fellow Marauders, Lily and Ariadne. The Marauders were planning a prank for which they would require a potion to disguise themselves as the professors.

Remus was horrible at potions. His sense of smell would often cause him to vomit. Sirius was often caught along with James trying to make an extra lot of potions for Remus.

He borrowed a piece of parchment and a spare quill and ink bottle from Peter and set down jotting down all the facts he knew about Ariadne-

**ALL THINGS STRANGE ABOUT ARIADNE RANGER****-**

· **She has been reported to have violent nightmares. (My ears had hurt a lot!)**

· **She carries all her belongings in a small pouch with an undetectable expansion charm. (I have never seen Sirius so shocked.)**

· **She spends all her time away from the school crowd in the library. (It is frightening when she suddenly appears out of thin air.)**

· **She draws portraits in the dead of the night.**

· **She happens to know her way about in the castle all by herself when even James gets lost.**

· **She knows the answers to questions. ( better than me. Don't tell anyone I said that.)**

· **She addresses everyone as if she has known them for years.**

· **And the most mysterious fact: how the effing heck does she know what I am when my friends took two years ( three in Lily's case) to figure that out?**

* * *

_Dear Ms. A. Ranger,_

_I write to you to tell about my intriguing findings on the subject of your _**quo sibi alienavit**_ or the rift in time. I have not divulged your real name to anyone whom I know of and strictly advise you not to. Time rifts; as I have noticed, always happen for a _reason_. The reason might be in order to cause or prevent an anomaly or it could be related to the events that happen in the future, it may be to fill a person's emotional void or it might be to fill _your_ emotional void._

_Telling people about your identity can fulfill the reason Ms. Ranger but it will not be able to drastically change the events of the future. No one, not even_ I_ will remember you. Everything related to you shall be forgotten by the people living during the time you were here and they wont recognise you even if you meet them again in the future._

_You might be able to return if you fulfill your cause. I wish the best of luck for you._

_Sincerely,_

(signed)_ Albus Dumbledore_

PS:_ I like chocolate frogs._


	9. Sirius, Lily and rain

"... The cruciatus curse..." Professor Drainer was dictating notes as usual in his dry toneless voice.

Hermione looked up from her note-taking. This wasn't correct, she thought, the cruciatus curse can't be blocked once its hit its mark! She had to correct this mistake. She quickly raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss?"

The class was shaken out of its deep stupor. Remus gave an odd sort of animal-like yelp and Alice who had been idly levitating a quill out of the window jumped.

"Ranger sir. I am sorry to interrupt but it seems that you have made a mistake. The cruciatus curse cannot be blocked by the victim. it is impossible to block it once it has reached its mark!"

Professor Drainer's contours changed. His dry and placid face was now looking like a hunter who has cornered it's kill. He walked up to Hermione's chair.

"So,"he said, "so you believe that the cruciatus can't be blocked?" There was a hint of mocking in his voice.

"Have you Miss Ranger ever seen someone being tortured?"

" This is not related to the subject professor." Hermione stated, trying to stop her voice from cracking.

Drainer's small grey eyes narrowed. lily was staring at the two with her moth agape. James had not noticed that his bottle of ink had leaked all over the table. Marlene was playing with her hair, her cat-like eyes fixed on Hermione.

She could feel the scars on her left arm prickle slightly. She had hoped that her long kept silence would cause the professor to walk away but that was not the case.

"Oh but it very much is my dear." He said, rounding up on her.

"No sir."

"Let me change the question a little. Have you ever been tortured?"

Hermione could feel the entire class' eyes on her. Her mouth was feeling really dry. She simply shook her head. Drainer walked away.

* * *

"Bird watching Sirius?"

"Yeah, you too I expect James?"

The two marauders were under a tree near the black lake. The Hogsmeade Ball was a week away and "It is time to ask out someone before we end up with a female Snape!" as Sirius had concluded.

"Oi Remmy come over here! We've got some sport for you!" James shouted.

"DON'T CALL ME REMMY!"

"Then what do we call you Remmy? And yeah bring Peter along too if you can!" Sirius added.

Remus scowled and signaled Peter to come along.

"What do you think about Marlene Sirius?" James asked ten minutes later.

"Childish."

"Alright then, Hestia?"

"Too much of pink."

"Mary Macdonald?"

"No Comments."

"Well who do you want go with then Sirius?"

" The Giant squid Maybe?" Remus suggested dryly.

Sirius shook his head.

" I was thinking about..." Sirius broke off his cheek suddenly turning red from embarrassment.

"Alright Sirius?" Peter squeaked

"No he isn't!" James cut Peter off, "This sounds Sirius Sirius! You actually like a girl?"

"Uh, yeah." He said feeling lightheaded.

"Have you asked her out?" Remus asked.

" No, Maybe I should." Sirius stood up and ran into the castle.

" He's gotta be serious." Remus shook his head.

"He _is _Sirius." James grinned, all the boys groaned.

* * *

James's suspicions were growing steadily. Who had Sirius asked out to ball? Remus probably knew but he was determined to put up a (very unconvincing) façade. Sirius turned deaf at the very mention of the ball. Though Remus had hinted something about the library.

Who goes to the library a lot? Well, Ravenclaw girls (possible), Remus Lupin (hopefully impossible), and_Lily._

Was Sirius going out with Lily? Well, James thought, why shouldn't he? After all James had given up on her. But he simply wouldn't! It was odd to imagine Sirius and Lily walking hand-in hand. But he had a plan; James Potter always had a plan.

That very night he asked Remus to swap places with him for the night rounds. If Sirius wasn't gonna tell him Lily surely would. The worst that could happen would a string of swear words and a nice tight slap.

"Why?" Remus enquired, raising an eyebrow.

"To set you up with that hot Ravenclaw rounds-partner of mine."

"And?" Remus slowly prompted.

"And have a short chat with Lily-flower."

"Lily-Flower? You are still in love with her aren't you?"

James sighed; he knew that this would happen. He had a back-up plan.

"Look I'll give a bar of Honeyduke's finest chocolate. The best there is."

Moony being Moony was unable to resist the temptation and agreed, reluctantly.

Lily showed little surprise at James' arrival. She was in a chatty mood talking about everything from books to pranks. Everything except the Hogsmeade ball that is. Unable to keep his curiosity down, James decided to bring the topic up himself.

"So who are you going out with Lily?"

"Where? Oh yeah the ball! No one yet."

James hadn't realised that he had been holding his breath all this time. So who was Sirius going out with?

_My life is brilliant_

They were just passing the entrance hall when…

"James it's raining!" Lily exclaimed

"Yeah I know. So what?"

_My life is brilliant  
My love is pure_

"Let's go out into the grounds!"

"We'll get wet!"

"Are you a Marauder or not!" Lily barged through the gates.

James sighed and ran after her.

_I saw an angel  
Of that I'm sure_

It was damp, wet, cold and probably one of the best moments in James' entire life. Lily was standing the middle of the grassy patch, her eyes shining with delight, her laughter ringing through the air as her hair got wet.

_She smiled at me on the subway  
She was with another man_

James just stood there drinking the entire scene. But he wasn't meant to. He couldn't risk falling for her again could he? But that didn't matter for now.

_She was with another man  
But I won't lose no sleep on that  
'Cause I've got a plan_

All he could see was Lily dancing about in the rain. Her green eyes flashing, her red locks flying about.

_You're beautiful  
You're beautiful  
You're beautiful, it's true  
I saw your face in a crowded place  
And I don't know what to do_

He ran up to her and joined her in the fun. They laughed, ran about, splashed through puddles and it felt like no time when Lily told him that they might be late. They ran back inside the castle out of breath and unable to control their laughter.

_'Cause I'll never be with you_

"Good night James!" Lily called out as she went up to the Dormitories.

"Good night Lily!"James walked up into his dormitory.

_Yes, she caught my eye  
As we walked on by  
She could see from my face that I was,  
Fucking high  
And I don't think that I'll see her again  
But we shared a moment that will last till the end_

The moment James opened the door he was bombarded with questions and exclamations.

"Where were you?"

"How the effing heck did you get so wet?"

"A short chat?"

"You're lucky McGonagall didn't catch you!"

"Did you and Evans have a chat down the black lake with the giant squid?"

_You're beautiful  
You're beautiful  
You're beautiful, it's true  
I saw your face in a crowded place  
And I don't know what to do  
'Cause I'll never be with you_

James gave a goofy little smile and said- "It was raining." Before crashing into the bed.

_You're beautiful  
You're beautiful  
You're beautiful, it's true  
There must be an angel with a smile on her face  
When she thought up that I should be with you  
But it's time to face the truth  
I will never be with you_


	10. Shine

James' mind had been blown badly off-track. He wasn't wondering about Sirius's secret date, nor was he busy planning an elaborate prank and apparently, he wasn't trying to pay attention to the Transfiguration lesson either.

"Mr. Potter will you pay attention! I am covering a very important topic which will most definitely come up in your NEWT's! Detention, Mr. Potter, your third today." Professor McGonagall barked, straightening her monocle.

James jerked upright, straightening his own glasses with a slightly cheeky grin. Sirius snorted. McGonagall shot a disapproving look at him and ploughed on with the lesson.

Remus was observing this all along. The night before, James had arrived late from the night rounds (which he nearly always tried to avoid but always ended up attending) soaking wet, unresponsive to their questions and muttering something about _rain_. He had then crashed into his bed falling asleep instantly. And now this morning he was acting as though this had never even happened.

Sirius had been out of his character lately too. Remus had guessed Sirius's '_Secret date_' a while ago and had no intention of telling James (it was fun to see him suffer).

Later that very evening the Marauders were playing exploding snap, sitting on their usual chairs in the common room. James and Sirius being the often superior team were losing badly.

"For god's sake Prongs either play or quit! I know that you aren't even looking at your pack of cards!" Sirius (ironically) barked at James.

Everyone was barking at James today. This allowed Remus to take cover (a werewolf's senses are heightened before and after the full moon, in this case_ after_ the full moon).

"I am looking at my pack of cards Padfoot! Where else d'you would I be looking?"  
"Oh I don't know," Sirius smirked, "Lily maybe?"

James' mouth opened and closed like a codfish.

"Don't you think we've noticed you taking a butcher's at Evans, eh? If you are still under the impression that we can tolerate this then break your bubble and ask her out. For the last time." Sirius sighed looking up at the ceiling; he was good at making speeches.

James stared into the fire for a few long minutes, the exploding snap forgotten. He then slowly got up from the couch.

"_For the last time._" Saying this he went up the armchair in the corner, where Lily was sitting.

Merlin only knows how long he was away. Meanwhile Remus, Peter and Sirius resumed their game of exploding snap. Now with James gone Sirius was bound to win the game (though barely and by cheating openly).

After what really was ten minutes James came back, panting.

"What?" Peter asked slightly sceptic.

"She said yes Peter she said yes!"

Remus stared in disbelief. The leaned out of his armchair to see Lily smiling at _James_ or well, she was smiling in _that direction_, something she never even subconsciously did. Well as they say, five-hundred and seventy-first times's the charm.

"Well if what you're saying is true then all that is left is finding a decent set robes for each one of us and yes, finding Remmy a date. What was the name of the hot Ravenclaw rounds-partner of yours?"

Remus gulped, this meant trouble and trouble; was the Marauders' speciality.

* * *

"How does this look?" James asked throwing a pair of brown robes at Sirius.

"A century old." Sirius answered throwing them back at James.

"Well then what do you think I should wear?"

"The blue ones."

"Am I the only one not bothered about this stupid ball?" Remus asked his head in his hands.

"Well there is Peter too."

"AUGH!"

An hour later the Marauders were waiting in the common room.

James was just staring blankly at the staircase of the girl's dormitory. He jumped when he heard the soft clatter of heels.

Lily walked out first. She was wearing green robes which brought out the colour of her eyes accessorised with a green bandana. She was looking absolutely beautiful.

Next came Marlene McKinnon wearing a black outfit and a flimsy yellow scarf. She too was looking nice.

Remus noticed as all the girls walked out. Suddenly his jaw dropped. Ariadne Ranger walked out, but it didn't seem like _her_.

She was wearing black and white robes of some kind of shimmering material. Her face was full and her eyes vibrant. The biggest change was her hair. It was sleek and shiny, her hair falling loose around her shoulders in delicate curls. She was still using crutches but Remus couldn't help notice the glittering black heels she was wearing. She was smiling nervously.

He gave James a nudge and pointed at her.

"What the-"

At that very moment she descended down the stairs and went over to grab Sirius' hand.

"Hadn't expected that."

* * *

Sirius led Ariadne through the entrance of the Gryffindor common room.

"How did you pull this off?" He asked her as a Hufflepuff girl goggled at her.

She gave an uncharacteristic giggle.

"I got a lot of help from Lily and Marlene! They were rather enthusiastic." She added with a slight laugh.

They went down to the entrance hall and out into the carriages. Hermione soon saw Lily and James walking hand-in-hand. She beckoned them into the carriage. James had a bewildered expression on his face. Then the carriages set into motion. James and Sirius began pointing at every significant or insignificant sight along the way causing a lot of hilarity.

At last they reached Hogsmeade. It had been decorated beautifully with a myriad of colours all around.

There was a sign reading- ""ONLY STUDENTS ABOVE THE AGE OF FIFTEEN CAN STAY FOR THE BALL IN THE EVENING.""

Sirius and Ariadne parted ways with James and Lily ("I've got to show her 'round Hogsmeade, mate!")

"Have you ever tried Butterbeer?"

Hermione nodded. She stated that it was the best thing in the world. Sirius agreed.

"Ever had Firewhisky?" Hermione asked feeling courageous. Sirius shook his head.

"Never. And what about you?"

"Just once." Sirius raised his eyebrows.

They went all around Hogsmeade. They bought sweets at Honeyduke's, drank Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks and visited the shrieking shack. It felt like no time had passed when evening came.


	11. The Hogmeade Ball

**A Note- I am Sooooo sorry! I haven't updated and I feel horrible about it! But... I had a lot done. This is one of the longest chapters that I've ever written And I put up Hermione's ball dress and make-up and I've got Lily's dress too! I even wrote an entire song for this chapter! See ****_I wont let go_**** for the entire version!**

Hermione saw James and Lily coming out of _Zonko's joke shop_. James whispered something to Lily and she burst into giggles. Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"What's come over them?" He asked shaking his head.

"I honestly have no idea. How many times did he ask her before she said yes?" Hermione asked tilting her head slightly.

"A hundred and seventy-one."

"Why did you ask me out?" Sirius stared at her.

"I dunno." He shrugged

Lily and James came up to them. James looked mortified.

"You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"I wish that I had." He muttered.

"What happened to him?"

"He's just overreacting"

"What did you see Prongs?"

"McGonagall! Don't look at her or you'll get nightmares for decades on to come!"

Hermione's eyes suddenly found McGonagall. She was wearing purple dress robes with a tinsel-covered hat. She had certainly gone a mile out to look festive. Hermione snorted. Suddenly laughter burst forth from her mouth.

"What the bloody-? Ariadne!"

Hermione had doubled over, still laughing.

"Mc-McGonagall!" She choked out, pointing at the Professor with the tinsel-covered hat.

At that very moment, professor McGonagall went to stand in front of the Three Broomsticks.

"_Sonorus!_" She said loudly.

"ALL THE STUDENTS BELOW THE AGE OF FIFTEEN PLEASE REPORT TO THE CARRIDGES. STUDENTS ABOVE FIFTEEN CAN GO WITH THEM IF THEY WISH!"

She flourished her wand and suddenly at the middle of the square a golden obelisk appeared.

She cautiously approached towards the spot where it stood. There were names inscribed upon it. Names of people.

Then professor McGonagall stepped back from the spot, only to be replaced by Albus Dumbledore. He was wearing midnight-blue robes and a black hat with stars on it. He looked grave.

He pointed his wand to his throat and whispered clearly.

"_Sonorus._"

By now nearly all of the students were standing around the tall gold structure. Dumbledore cleared his throat loudly.

"WELCOME MY DEAR STUDENTS TO THIS BALL." His voice was even and unwavering, "WE ARE HERE NOT ONLY TO ENJOY AND CELEBRATE BUT ALSO TO REMEMBER. TIMES ARE CHANGING. OUR WORLD IS AT WAR."

At those words all the students who were till then stone silent broke out into whispers filled with a varying degree of emotions. Hermione's breath got caught in her throat. It was the thirty-first of October. She turned towards Lily and James. Neither of the two was whispering. They were standing as still as their statues in Godric's Hollow.

She went on to stare at the tall obelisk. All those names on it once used to signify the persons they belonged to. Now they were just words. She kept staring at the words as if she were mesmerized by them. She noticed a lot of familiar names. Abbott, Bones, Mckinnon and even Longbottom. She thought that she might have seen Ranger up there somewhere. Was there actually a wizarding family by that name or was it simply a mere addition to the tale woven by her and Dumbledore? She did not know.

She jerked awake from her stupor. Someone was shaking her. She turned to see that it was Sirius. She just managed to catch Dumbledore's final words.

"… IT IS YET FUTILE TO MOURN THEIR LOSS. IT IS THEIR LIVES THAT MATTERED, HOW WE SAW THEM TO BE. SO I WOULD ASK YOU TO AS THE PHRASE GOES 'ENJOY THE NIGHT WHILE IT'S STILL YOUNG'. THANK YOU."

With that said, Dumbledore pointed his wand to his throat again and his voice turned back to normal.

He waved his wand again. A stage was erected in front of the place where he was standing.

"For a bit of decoration." He said as he conjured up floating pumpkins that seemed to leer down at everyone.

A band came up on stage. It was wearing jazzy, colourful clothes with the initials 'WS' written on them. They did look familiar but she couldn't remember from

"Ariadne, you are crying!" Hermione quickly wiped the tears off her face.

"No I'm not! Who are they?" She said pointing at the band.

"You don't know the Weird Sisters? They're new but quite famous! Don't tell me that you have no idea about them!"

"I-I do!" Hermione gaped at the band with astonishment written clear on her face.

At that the band began playing a song that though Hermione didn't recognize, caused the crowd to burst into cheers. When Sirius began cheering, Hermione noticed that she was cheering too. The song unlike the songs she had heard of on the Weasley's radio when Ginny had made her hear the band. It was so easy to sing along to this one.

_If you're walking down in Diagon Alley_

_Then try not to dilly-dally_

_For your life is gonna change right now_

_Allow me to show you how!_

At that most people began dancing. Hermione just swayed a bit and clapped to the tune of the song. She was itching to dance like everyone but she couldn't. She knew she couldn't.

_So I was walking down Diagon Alley_

_And things got really scary_

_Some young witches were standin' in a row_

_And one tried to have a go!_

Even Sirius was now doing some sort of jig with his wand raised to the sky. Raised to the sky! Hermione turned around to see that Sirius mouth was moving continuously but not to the music. Hermione soon realised what he was doing. He was jinxing the pumpkins.

_So we went down to the nearest pub in sight_

_And had jig in the party lights _

_She's just a 'mazing witch!_

_Oh yeah a crazy witch!_

Hermione soon saw that the pumpkins floating overhead were forming a ring like pattern, with the largest pumpkin floating in the middle. The song seemed to be ending and a new kind of thrill seemed to fill her stomach. What would happen now?

_She's just a 'mazing witch!_

_Oh yeah a crazy witch!_

_A Cra-cra-cra-crazy witch!_

_Oh yeah a 'mazing witch!_

Just as soon as the song ended the pumpkins burst into colourful confetti covering everyone. Hermione heard a pop where the confetti touched her head. She gingerly felt her hair; the confetti was gone and was now replaced by a black and white beret, quite like her turned about to see that everyone was wearing hats of different shapes colours and sizes. Sirius was wearing an incredulous pirate hat with a blue feather on top.

The remaining confetti flew up in the air to form a message. The message read-

_"__GREETINGS FROM ALL MARAUDERS AND A HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO YOU TOO!"_

"Remus and his final touches!" Sirius snorted, thrusting his wand inside his robes.

Hermione soon caught sight of the werewolf who was now pointing his own wand up at the sky. He was wearing a porkpie hat with a blue feather too.

Hermione laughed and walked out of the ruckus out to an open space. The air was cool and the moon was out bright. She felt like she could do anything. The world was just _beneath_ her.

"I thought that you were having fun out there."

Sirius Black soon found a wand pointed to his throat. _That was quick_.

"Ariadne it's me! Sirius!" the wand recoiled from his throat.

"Oh I'm sorry! Reflexes!" Ariadne laughed nervously.

"Why've you come out here?"

Ariadne shrugged.

"Let's just talk Sirius."

"About what?"

"Anything. Everything."

"I ask again, why did you ask me out?" Sirius seemed to rack his brains.

"You are different."

"Different? How?"She laughed.

"You were the only person not dying to ask me out; you couldn't just care less. You happen to have the best laugh in the whole world-" Sirius stopped; he knew that his cheeks had now gone redder than a beetroot.

Ariadne thankfully ignored the last bit.

"Well I didn't care to ask anyone out! I can't exactly dance Sirius. So when will the quidditch trials begin?"

"In November. We just need a new chaser and a beater now that Frank's gone…" Sirius trailed off not knowing what to say.

"Well we ought to be getting something to eat now Sirius."

"No, come and dance."

Ariadne gave a bitter laugh.

"Forget about it_, Black_."

"Trust me, _Ranger._" Sirius said mimicking her haughty tone.

He carefully led her to the now- nearly empty dance floor. Almost everyone had gone to eat. Sirius could see the tables lined a distance off from here. The entire band had gone to eat except for a short, fat man at the piano. He was playing a slow waltz-like tune.

"How in the world do you expect me to dance? Sirius!"

Sirius had now lifted her up from under her shoulders; her crutches fell down on the ground. He spun her around slowly, carefully as though scared to drop her and she kept the grip on his arms light, scared that her weight was too much for him. But, after the months of fighting, hiding, camping and ignoring food at Hogwarts, it was a surprise that there was anything much left of her body.

The man was now playing faster, as though motivated by the presence of some audience. The music was somehow getting louder. Sirius lifted Hermione higher, grabbing her at the waist now. She slowly spread her arms out. It was like _flying_, except for the fact that it did not make her dizzy.

It was something completely new for Sirius. He had danced with a number of girls before but he had never seen someone so, _so happy_. The music ended with a really high note. He carefully put Ariadne down, supporting her with one arm and picked up her crutches. She gingerly accepted them with a smile.

Then as they both were heading for the tables, Sirius couldn't help it. The question slipped out of his mouth.

"What are you hiding from me Ariadne?"

Ariadne seemed taken aback but then she smiled.

"If I told you that Sirius, I wouldn't be hiding it anymore."


	12. Hell-o reader!

**Hello readers of this fic! I'm Arianne, the author of this story And the world went black (abbrev. ATWWB) and I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for supporting me and thank you for reading beyond the first chapter(and coming up to this bit)! This isn't a chapter so I'm sorry if you had your hopes up. Just a little tête-à-tête...**

**Now I haven't updated since what January? Last Year? I know that most you think that I have abandoned this fic. For a while I thought I would but then I realised how much this fic had helped me in discovering the author underneath. I won't abandon it and I hope that my new readers don't either.**

**I wrote this fic about a year ago in summer. I was -and still am- so thoroughly fascinated with the idea of time travel to the marauders' era or any sort of rime travel in general. But, I was also recovering from depression and thus tended to over-dramatise stuff. I've learned to control it now but that's not a reason for me not updating.**

**If I must say so, the story seems to go all whiney-whiney-whine at times, not fully bringing out the amazing aspect of humour that surrounded the marauders' era. I made the characters mature too early and there was a lot of awkward writing when it came to the serious bits (no puns, please).**

**I used to until recently reside in France and I was quite bad at English. Which also makes me wonder how you managed to read this in your head without a classic Fleur Delacour accent which I don't speak in (It's like a bit of London and a bit of french accent all mushed up). So apologies for my terrible syntax, can't be right all the time.**

**I have been working a lot of new projects lately and I really didn't stop to think about this fic, which though does mean a lot to me, doesn't define what I write as of today. I'm still going to be editing, tidying up and elongating/segmenting the story until I am finally happy with it. Then I will -like a proper author that I am- write a new chapter to this story, hopefully getting some written feedback (reviews).**

**I hope that you will stay with me till that happens. Remember that patience it a bitch. And what do YOU think cher reader? Should I continue?**


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